


Secrets Shared

by margarks



Series: Affinity [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: M/M, References Episode: S10e11 The Forever People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-14 06:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4553904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/margarks/pseuds/margarks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end, it was Aaron who tipped everyone off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secrets Shared

**Author's Note:**

> Still getting my feet wet with the fandom, but can't stop thinking about this pairing. Hopefully my voices are getting better as I go. And look! I actually wrote more than 100 words! :) One of these days, when I feel like I can get the voices right, I am going to write some smut. lol
> 
> Also, one of my favorite scenes is from episode 10x11 when Hotch gives Reid a fist bump so I wanted to write about it, lol.

It's not that they wanted to keep their relationship a secret, per se. Jessica knew, and so did Jack, of course. Aaron was worried at first how Jack would take it, introducing Spencer into their routine, into their lives.

Worried about Spencer, too. 

But Jack never quite outgrew his 'why' phase and Spencer loved nothing more than a captive audience. He was happy to spend hours answering Jack's questions and explaining the way the world worked.

It was, frankly, a match made in heaven.

And watching them together left Aaron feeling more content than he could remember feeling in years. He still missed Haley some days and the life they'd had together. But he didn't miss the fights or the near constant guilt.

Spencer understood him in a way that she never could. And while he did feel some residual remorse in admitting that, Aaron knew it was true.

It had made it difficult to tell Jessica, but it wasn't something that Aaron had been willing to hide. He'd never want Spencer to feel as if he were something to feel ashamed of. 

That's why if Spencer had wanted to tell the team immediately, Aaron would have agreed with no hesitation. But they'd both decided to hold off for a little while. Their relationship wasn't new, but in a room full of profilers it was nice to have something of their own.

Aaron was by nature a discrete individual. He didn't share his personal life - struggles or successes - easily. He'd learned at an early age to keep quiet and to handle things on his own. But sometimes around Spencer it was difficult to remember. And he knew that Spencer would tell him that he no longer had to.

In the end, it was Aaron who tipped everyone off. 

He'd gotten so used to reaching for Spencer, those casual touches that were common place at home but off limits at work. He'd never do anything as blatant or intimate as kiss Spencer while they were on the job and in view of the others, but the little touches - a hand at the small of Spencer's back, a squeeze to his shoulder - those were hard to curb. Especially because he knew Spencer enjoyed them.

When it came to touch, Spencer was a delicate balance of awkward avoidance and touch-starvation. Now that Spencer so easily accepted it from Aaron, he wanted to give Spencer what he was missing for the most part in the rest of his life. So, it was nearly impossible to stop himself from brushing a hand across Spencer's arm or back or other more innocent areas whenever he was within reach.

Spencer wasn't weak, far from it. He was one of the strongest men that Aaron had ever known. But Aaron thought sometimes of what he'd had to go through growing up without anyone to rely on but himself; growing up so set apart from all those around him. And all Aaron wanted to do some days was to wrap him up in a cocoon and take care of him.

It was irrational, he knew. 

Aaron never questioned Spencer's genius. It's not that he was infallible, only that Aaron has had years to reconcile himself to the knowledge that when it comes to bare facts and numbers there was nobody Spencer's equal. And he trusted him implicitly when it came to things like the population density of Juniper, Alaska or the square mileage of Providence, Rhode Island. 

So, when they were on the way to Lake Mead and he was considering the best way to work the investigation, he didn't hesitate to ask Spencer how many boats currently resided on the reservoir. When Kate challenged him, Aaron wanted to warn her not to bother, but he kept his silence instead. He wasn't surprised when Spencer was proven correct.

He knew that Spencer wouldn't take either Morgan's or Kate's teasing in a negative way, but Aaron still couldn't stop his own need to reassure and congratulate when Morgan refused. So, yes, he offered Spencer the fist bump Morgan had denied him, even as he understood how out of character it was for him.

Aaron thought it was probably more the small smiles they had both shared afterward that had tipped Dave off, though.


End file.
